A REMOVAL van worth £20,000 was stolen in the early hours of yesterday from a company forecourt in Westcliff.

Thieves took the 3.5-tonne Luton tail lift from Myles Hire, in Fairfax Drive, despite four CCTV cameras being trained on the area.

Owner of the vehicle hire company, Myles Auger, is now counting the cost of lost trade as well as one of his 90-strong fleet.

He said: “Lutons are popular vans and they usually go out for about four days at a time, at £75 a day. So until it returns, we’re going to be losing upwards of £300 a week.”

CCTV cameras didn’t pick up the thieves because the van was shielded from the cameras by a 7.5-tonne lorry on the forecourt.

Mr Auger added it was unusual for him to have a lorry of such a size on the premises, and felt opportunists found the right time to strike.

He said: “I think people are keeping an eye on the lock-up all the time. People wait and watch for an opportunity. The slightest one and they’re in there.

“I don’t know how they managed to do it.

“They must have broken the steering lock or put it on a low loader.”

Myles Hire has been operating in Southend since 1984.

Mr Auger said: “I don’t like people getting away with things like this. In 30 years you can imagine the amount of stuff we’ve had stolen.

“I’ve always managed to block the loopholes when it’s happened before, now I’ll have to block another one. A police spokesman said: “Police are investigating the theft of the white van which was taken overnight on August 29.

“The theft occurred in Fairfax Drive, in Westcliff, between 9pm and 6am.

“Police are urging anyone with any information to contact them on 101.